Sandra Binning

I am generally interested in how fish (and other aquatic organisms) are affected by different environmental stressors. These stressors include things like low oxygen, parasites, waves and fluctuating water flow, high salinity, etc. I try to figure out what behavioural, morphological and/or physiological effects these stressors have on populations and species. I am especially fascinated by variation within species (intraspecific differences) along natural environmental gradients.

Lately, I have become interested in factors affecting decision making and memory in fishes. Although fish suffer from the stereotype of having a two second memory, some species are capable of a remarkable array of cognitive abilities. This makes sense: aquatic systems are diverse, complex habitats, and individuals need to be able to discriminate between predators, prey, potential mates and competitors, and make appropriate behavioural decisions about how and when to act depending on the context. Most of my research on this topic explores whether parasites affect the decision-making abilities of their fish hosts. Coral reef damselfishes are an excellent system for this question: most are protogynous hermaphrodites which live in small groups defending territories and nest sites. They engage in elaborate social interactions, and need both advanced spatial and individual recognition abilities in order to survive. Damselfish are also resident visitors of cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus), who remove a variety of ectoparasites from their surfaces. Individuals who do not get cleaned suffer from reduced body size and condition. By manipulating cleaner densities on natural reefs, we can effectively control the long-term exposure of resident damselfish to parasites, and then test whether this has any effect on different aspects of fish cognition, behaviour and physiology.

I joined the Bshary lab as a post-doc in mid-2014 and will be working in collaboration with Dr. Lexa Grutter at the University of Queensland in Australia.

I am also working on a number of ongoing projects with collaborators from around the world:

Recovery from parasites as a selective pressure for the evolution of migration with Dr. Allison Shaw, University of Minnesota

Personality, aerobic capacity and physiological stress responses of Japanese flounder in different salinities with Prof. Weiqun Lu and Mr. Emmanuel Rupia, Shanghai Ocean University, Dr. Dominique Roche, University of Neuchatel

Policies and practices surrounding data archiving and sharing with Dr. Dominique Roche, University of Neuchatel, Dr. Loeske Kruuk, University of Edinburgh and Dr. Robert Lanfear, Macquarie University

Direct and indirect estimates of maximum metabolic rates in fishes with Dr. Dominique Roche, University of Neuchatel, Dr. Timothy Clark, Australian Institute of Marine Science

Effects of waves and exercise training on aerobic and anaerobic performance in fishes with Dr. Jodie Rummer, James Cook University, Dr. Dominique Roche, University of Neuchatel

Description of the monogenean parasite fauna in damselfishes of the Great Barrier Reef with Dr. Edgar Mendoza-Franco, Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, Mexico, Dr. Dominique Roche, University of Neuchatel